Saturday, June 28, 2008

Adultery Lattes and Floppaccinos

Okay, there are a few points I must make clear before I get to the heart of this post:

  • I have a weakness for really good, rather expensive, high-calorie drinks from coffee shops.
  • I really love my father-in-law, Dan.
  • He really likes to spoil me when he's in town by buying me those high-priced drinks and bringing them to me.
  • He has a hard time remembering the names of those drinks.
  • He approves of what I'm about to write and even asked me to to snap this picture of him and post it here on the Knitting Hummel:

Those of you who have already had the pleasure being in Dan's company may be able to appreciate this story more than others... I'm not sure I'm able to do him justice. But it's worth trying. For those of you who have not met him... well, I'll do my best.

It all started around the time that Lucy came to us. I was having a rough adjustment to the round-the-clock feedings. I don't think I'd known the meaning of the word "exhaustion" before the sweet girl joined us! Dan and Judy had come to visit us and spend time with their newest granddaughter. At one point, Dan and Darin decided to run some errands and offered to make a Starbucks run! "Hallelujah!" I thought, and told him how much I would love a cinnamon dolce latte.

About five minutes later as the guys had a foot out the door, Dan double checked my request with me and said, "What was it you wanted, Erika, a cinnamon adultery latte?"

I nearly spit out the snack I was munching on and corrected him in between giggles. Since then, all of the family has pretty much referred to my favorite coffee drink as the "adultery latte".

Well, this morning I learned that I have a new favorite drink: the "floppaccino".

A few of you may have known that all this week, Darin has been out of town, so I've been flying solo with Lucy since last Sunday! Dan and Judy came into town yesterday and spent the day with us. They also stayed with Lucy last night while I picked Darin up from the airport at 11:30! Knowing that Darin and I would be tired and could use some relaxing time toghether, Judy got up with Lucy this morning while Dan ran out to get breakfast and drinks for us from Caribou Coffee.

He brought me back a cafe mocha and a fabulous story as to how he ended up with that particular drink. Here it is, as best as I can retell it:

He approached the counter and enlisted the barista's help. He explained that he wanted to get me something that I'd be sure to like, and that he's pretty sure I like those cold blended drinks and he thinks they're called floppaccinos. But he's really not sure that I would go for something frozen in the morning, so he wondered if there was a way for them to make a hot floppacinno. The barista assured him that he'd be able to set him up the warm equivalent of a mocha floppacinno.

I couldn't even attempt to contain my laughter, as he shared his tale. I gently told him that the drink he had in mind was called a "frappuccino" and a light bulb appeared over his head as he said, "Oh, I suppose that's why they were all laughing at me when I was ordering."

Dan, that was the best hot floppaccino I've ever had, thanks again! You win the father-in-law of the year award!

As for the the rest of you, I hope you know that since I'm a stay-at-home mommy now, all you have to do is name the date and I'd love bring Lucy and sit and visit with you at the coffee shop of your choice. Your adultery latte or floppaccino is on me.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Safe and Dry

Well, if you've been keeping up with the national news lately, you would know that the state of Iowa has been a pretty wet place lately! After spending three weeks in hot and very dry Texas, it was quite a stark contrast when we rolled into the Des Moines area last Sunday to see crops and otherwise busy streets completely under water!

I've appreciated the phone calls and e-mails that many of you have made to make sure that we and Darin's parents in the Cedar Rapids area are okay! We're very thankful to say that we are all safe and dry. The only inconvenience that Darin, Lucy and I have experienced is just a little water in our basement. Darin's parents have some friends who have had to evacuate but they are fine. They are having to abide by some pretty strict water restrictions (they can only use water in their house for drinking) but they were in town this weekend and got some laundry, dishes and showering done here!

On a different and much lighter note, I'm happy to report that we had a FABULOUS time in Texas! Darin's business had him in Seattle and Vancouver for the first week, so Lucy and I made our way by van to Texas accompained by my sister and her family! Darin joined us in San Antonio on Memorial Day where the three of us stayed for a week. Then we headed to Dallas where Darin had more work to do. Lucy and I enjoyed spending time with some good friends there while Darin was busy! It was such a refreshing time away! Lucy did great with traveling in the car. We're so spoiled to have such a laid back and happy-go-lucky baby!

Now that we're home, we're just trying to get settled back in (still) and trying to find our routine again. It's been fun catching up with our good friends here and getting updated on everything that's gone on while we were gone!

I'll leave you with a few fun pictures from Texas!


Lucy finally met Uncle Paul:

All the girls together on a Sunday afternoon:

Lucy became a San Antonio Spurs fan: